Today's Wonder is Vicky Papaioannou from Thessaloniki in northern Greece. Vicky is a true inspiration because scrapbooking/cardmaking is pretty much unheard of in her country. She says most people have never even heard of scrapbooking and there are no scrapbooking stores in her entire country. So she goes online for all of her supplies. Then she makes demos of her creations to share with the world via her blog, Clips'n'Cuts.
Now that's dedication.
Ladies, meet Vicky!
Like all those Europeans, she looks very hip and chic. (She wrote with envy because having big hips isn't the same thing as being hip, and chic is usually mispronounced as "chick" over here so, really, there seems to be no hope of ever achieving either if you're from the Heartlands, so why not just go ahead and eat that Sara Lee cheesecake because you're doomed to being a hippy chick, so just accept it, climb into that Sears Women's Wear, and embrace your inner - and outer - Frump.)
(Anybody not laughing at that last statement is waaaaaay too cool for this blog, btw.)
I love the picture, below - doesn't this look like a photo from Cosmo or something? Right next to that story about Having It All.
And I do believe that our Vicky has achieved Have-It-All-edness. She's got a lovely husband, two beautiful children, a job she enjoys, and she's a talented paper crafter!
Nirvana.
I like Vicky's work because it's got a fresh quality to it - which I can hardly explain, sad to say. I suspect that Vicky sees things just a little bit differently, and that's where it comes from? All I know is that her cards usually have something that surprises me - and it's always a good surprise. Her work always makes me want to go try what she just did. Case in point:
The whole idea here is fresh - how clever to use puzzle pieces for expressing the traditional hugs and kisses sentiment! And I like the simple kraft background because it really allows those vivid colors to pop. (Now I'm just itching to raid Gigi's toybox.)
Here she's stamped her coffee pot on patterned paper. When I saw it, I thought to myself, "There she goes again. I never would have considered stamping that coffee pot on patterned paper! AND she's using it as a vase - how unique!" The end result is a card that I find rather arresting and very, very cool. (Now I want to use a non-vase stamp as a vase!)
A bowl of noodles made of embroidery floss!? When was the last time you saw THAT on a card? And how great to have the birdie nabbing some? Just. So. Fresh!
That's Vicky - I always enjoy seeing her latest creation because I know I'm going to see something in a way I never considered. And that's really important if you're looking for inspiration - a fresh take on an old idea or object. Vicky's cards will definitely get your creative wheel a'goin'!
Vicky's cards have won some awards: 3rd Place in the Hero Arts blog Glitter Challenge and 3rd Place in Caardvarks Red Heart Challenge. She's not been published yet nor been on a Design Team, but she creates terrific demo videos of her work and has quite a following on YouTube. Something tells me somebody's going to be knocking at her door one of these days.
I asked Vicky if she had any pictures of her creative space, and she begged off, saying, "It’s a total mess. I started cardmaking a year ago with just a small table and couple of drawers but since then I've got so much stuff that nothing I had was enough for storage. I am in the middle of reorganizing my space so everything is currently in boxes all around the floor waiting for the new furniture to come in! But I promise I’ll share some photos as soon as everything is in order."
We look forward to seeing it, Vicky!
And now, with no further ado, lift your Cherry Vanilla Diet Doctor Pepper's (yes, I'm currently steppin' out on my Diet Coke - what a hussy!) to Vicky Papaioannou, an Inspiration Diva to all!
1. Do you pre-sketch a design or do you just leap out of the gate? How long does it usually take you to make a page? A card?
Making a card means deciding which stamps to use! So I put the stamps I choose on the table and everything else just comes to me. It usually takes me about half an hour to make a card because I usually do embossing or distressing or paper-piecing, and I love layers. To make a one-layer card is the biggest challenge for me! LOL!
Half an hour? I think I'll go shoot myself now....
2. How many, on average, pages per week do you make? Cards?
I don’t make pages any more. No time, I guess, although it’s always in my new year’s resolutions... I think I'm gonna fail on this again this year! I usually make about 3-4 cards per week.
I hear you on the failed resolution thing. I think I need to increase my guilt or I'm never going to get that child's life on paper!
3. How has your process evolved to make you a leaner, meaner crafting machine? (In other words, what are some lessons you've learned or tips you can share that allow you to make better and faster design choices?
Kraft cardstock goes with just about any patterned paper! So stamp a cute design on patterned paper, cut around it, and stick it on kraft cardstock using pop-dots. There you have it! Oh! and some faux-stitching with white pen or a white embossed sentiment will really do it’s magic!
Martha Stewart can just go home, I think!
4. What's your stand-by, FAST dinner solution for those times when you really want to get to your scrap space ASAP (or stay ALAP)?
Spaghetti bolognese! Tasty, fast, everyone is happy ... and I am free to go!
5. If you were stranded on an island that had a billion supplies but NO tools, what ten TOOLS would you HAVE to have? (All the stamps in the world are available, so you don't need to list them as one of your tools. EX: we've got all the embroidery floss in the world, but you're going to have to bring your own needle if you want to use any of it!)
Here they are in no particular order: ATG Gun, heat tool for embossing, my scissors, Fiskars Paper Trimmer, white opaque pen, edge distresser, acrylic blocks, CraftRobo, Cuttlebug, Exacto knife:
Okay, what's an ATG gun and a CraftRobo?
6. If you were still on that island, what kind of noise would you want (if any) in the background? List as many as five different favorite musical artists.
Since I would be in that lovely island I would love to listen to the birds singing or a running river for a chance! Or my kids laughing and playing in the fields.
7. If you could have anything you wanted, (concerning scrapping or stamping) what would it be?
An organized scrap room! Full of storage solutions!
I think that's the battle cry of the Wild Stamper....
8. What about your style/artistry are you
least satisfied with?
I’d love to make simple cards. And I mean really simple with white background. It’s impossible for me to do that! No way! And I love when I see such simple but pretty cards.
White cards are very, very hard, in my opinion. I love making them, but they're so draining I can't sustain my creativity for long with them. I can do about three of them and then I need a recovery period of a couple of weeks....
9. What cameras have you tried, which one is your favorite, and why? (You can shorten this to just the one you're using now if you like.)
I used a Kodak p850 but it’s way too slow and difficult to handle, I also have Canon Ixus 860 as well, but this one is just a compact camera (love it, though). I prefer my new Canon EOS 1000D which is DSLR, and I have a choice of nice lenses.
10. What's the word or phrase that comes to your lips when you mess up while creating? ("Unprintable" is definitely an option!)
That would need a translator since I would say it in Greek... I don’t think I could find the correct word in English.... something like “eeeeek” or “gross”!
Well, just spray some Windex on it and I'm sure it will be fine. (That would be a reference to one of my all-time favorite movies, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Anybody who hasn't seen it needs to rent it this weekend, and I don't mean maybe!)
11. Give us a quick description of your pets.
As much as we love them we don’t have any... (yet).
12. Give us a quick description of your job.
I have studied Informatics and I have a MSc degree in Information Systems Engineering. After working as a programmer in many companies, now I am a high school computer teacher and I love it!
I am happily married to Aris (also a computer programmer) and we have two children. Maria is 4 and Kostas is 18 months. Taking care of our family actually takes all of our free time.
Yes, I hear you. But you must be really good at time management because you can produce so much and still take care of everybody. What's your secret?! (Don't make me come to Greece and beat it out of you, girlie!)
14. Got a fun or little known fact about yourself you’d like to share?
I am a night stamper. Haven’t made a single card in daylight! I always scrap when the kids go to sleep.
I suspect there are a lot of Midnight Stampers out there - vampires got nuthin' on us!
15. What’s your favorite stamping technique?
Embossing!
16. What do you find more satisfying - the process or the product?
Definitely the process. And I love making my “how-to” videos! It’s so much fun recording, editing and then reading comments and feedback! I also love giving my cards to others!
I agree with all of that!
Check out more of Vicky's art at her blog and her Flickr photostream. And don't forget to go watch her YouTube videos!











